the Secrets Behind Britshire, England
by light-and-Shadows-Mist-and-ice
Summary: Britshire, England is a town of many secrets. From the candy store, to the hospital nothing about the town seems to line up. Of course the residents of the town don't seem to realize this for it's all they've ever known. In fact when someone points out the these things they are quickly silenced. Join this mysterious town whenever Allison feels like updating for a basic soap opera.
1. chapter 1

**(A:/N) Allison: So this is a story that I came up with at ten at night. When I was very tired. It is very weird, and weird and also very weird. So in this chapter, Wylie is 6 along with Fitz and Biana and Linh are 5. I changed the ages so that the story will work.**

 **Without further ado, here's the story...**

It was a sad dreary sunday in the small town of Britshire, England. The sunday was a especially dreary for anyone with the last name of Endal.

Wylie Endal was a relatively normal kid, he went to school, he played sports and his dad was convicted murderer. That wouldn't be so bad, if his mother hadn't just been stabbed. It should be noted that Wylie's father hadn't stabbed his mother.

They were gathered in a clearing, not a special one as Wylie would have hoped, but a small treeless, clearing. The clearing hadn't been set foot in recently , clearly. There were weeds growing out of the small cracks between the paving stones. The headstones were unreadable, the ivy had grown over the names and dates. All was old and decaying, except for the brand new granite headstone sitting behind the pile of freshly dug dirt.

 _Cyrah Endal_

1972-2002

 _Loving mother, wife, daughter and friend_

" _May the stars shine bright above my grave and all who reside beside me"_

He stood around the grave, the funeral goers mulling around him, their words barely reaching his ears.

"Poor child, to lose both your parents before your ten…"

"You know Marge, the article I just read says that when a child's parents die before their ten, the emotional trauma is a lot less than one of a child who lost both their parents when they were say, fifteen."

"I swear the amount of murders in this town just keeps going up, fifty more and we'll be a landmark.."

A child not much older than he, came up and sat beside him. She didn't talk, or even move to comfort him in anyway.

Wylie turned his head to look at the girl, she was thin and fragile looking, with black hair that reached her waist and silver blue eyes. Eyes that were focused on the pile of dirt before them.

"Hi," he started, but soon realized that he had nothing else to say.

"Hi," the girl said a small smile creeping up her face.

"I'm Wylie."

"I'm Linh."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to break the silence. A voice rang out over the clearing.

"Linh Song get your bloody, butt over here, we're leaving in five minutes with or without you."

Linh got up and shot Wylie a small smile. Then she ran over to the harsh looking couple tapping their feet.

After most of the funeral goers had left, there were only five people sitting in the clearing. Wylie, a man with long blonde hair, a woman with dark brown hair and an elegant demeanor, and her children. Wylie had seen them around school, the older boy was in his class. Fitz, he remembered, the boy's name was Fitz. Fitz and his younger sister were up silently playing a hand game together by their mother's feet.

The man got up and walked over to Wylie, placed his hand on his shoulder and introduced himself.

"Hello there, I'm Tiergan and I'll be your guardian. I'm terribly sorry for the loss of your mother and the conviction of your father. I'll be taking you home with me and my family." He then waved at the group of people and they waved back. "That's my wife, Della and her two kids Fitz and Biana." They started walking towards a large dark blue minivan. Fitz and Biana sat in the two middle seats, leaving Wylie to crawl over them to the back.

"Would anyone like some snacks?," Della asked the group.

"Me, me, me, me, me, me, me," Fitz and Biana chanted in unison. Della handed them a large bag of Frazzles.

"Wylie dear would you like a snack? Or a juice pouch?"

"No thank you," he replied.

"Can I have some snacks," Tiergan asked. Della then handed him a bag of hula hoops. Tiregan opened them with one hand and poured them into his mouth.

"Tiergan, dear, please use car manner when you eat." She pointed to a poster that was hung over her head.

 _Della's Minivan Rules for eating_

 _Please do not pour, dump, throw your snacks into your mouth. That's how you choke on delicious snacks._

 _When eating keep your mouth closed_

 _When drinking use the straw provided,_

 _Failure to comply with these rules will result in a temporary suspension from snacks_

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Only the sounds of Tiergan, Biana and Fitz's chewing and the radio breaking the silence.

They stopped at a medium sized house in the center of town. It had brown stucco walls and white window frames, a small front garden with tulips growing in the dirt.

Della got out first and opened the door for the children. Fitz and Biana got out and ran to the door, then disappeared inside. Wylie got out more cautiously and stuck by Della's side. She led him into the house and up a staircase to a room with navy blue walls and white furniture.

"Here you go love," she said with an elaborate hand swoop across the room. "Your room,"

"Thank you Della," Wylie said quietly.

"Biana and Fitz's rooms are right down the hall and mine and Tiergan's room is downstairs, I will always wake up if you have an issue so don't be worried." She stroked his head and left the room, leaving Wylie to his own thoughts.

He looked around the room, the navy walls were blank and the furniture had almost nothing on it. He then realized that he had no possessions. Nothing to make this room his. At least not yet. Tiergan had left to gather his things from the old country house down by the river.

Tiergan came back a while later with a minivan load of boxes of clothes and other things. Him and Della set to work putting all the things into the room. Wylie stood in the corner and watched as his things were placed on the dresser and on the walls. They made his new bed and placed his teddy bear with the british flag T-shirt on the bed. By the time they had finished it was dark.

"Okay, house rules, bed by 8 lights out at 8:30, ask us if you're going to go anywhere. I'll wake you up at 7:30 sharp so that you can be early for school," Della explained, "Fitz is in your class so follow him when you come home from school. Okay?"

"Okay, Della,"

She left the room and closed the door. Wylie crept into the bed, pulled the covers under his chin and closed his eyes, ready for what the next day would bring.

 **AN:Allison: I don't know when I started shipping Tiergan and Della but apparently it's a thing.** **If you're wondering if the other characters will come in your answer is yes. Next Chapter, probably. So bye, until the next chapter.**

 **Carin: Hi , I re did our profile , so check that out if ya feel like knowing what our Hogwarts houses are.**


	2. chapter 2

Ten years later

Wylie sat on the wooden chair listening to Mr. Forkle drone on about how to correctly play sixteenth notes to the Trumpets. He casually tapped out a beat with his flute on his leg, keeping in time with the song going around in his head.

"Okay, now can I have the flutes, clarinets and alto saxes play from measure nine through twenty seven. And try not to mess up this time please." Mr. Forkle raised his hands and Wylie raised his flute to his mouth. Some may call him girly for picking the flute but, at least he could fit his case into his backpack unlike a certain tuba.

After band practice came lunch, and with that a group of very unlikely friends, settled around a table in the cafeteria. There was him and his two adoptive siblings Biana and Fitz, along with Fitz's girlfriend Sophie(they had declared themselves a couple when they were six and seven respectively and nobody thought it would last but it was ten years later and Sophia had a promise ring and people were starting to doubt their earlier claims). There was also Fitz's best friend Keefe, also there was Dex who he didn't really know ended up here, and Linh. They were all in band together so that kinda explained how they became good friends.

"So Keefe I heard that you got asked out by Marella Redek during Chemistry today, care to comment" Fitz asked Keefe.

"My only comment on the matter is that Marella could have been more creative with her ways. Passing me a note with Do you want to go on a date with me with little boxes to check yes or no is so common with me that I didn't know if it was her or one of my many other admirers."

"Sure you do Keefe," said Sophie really sarcastically from under Fitz's arm. Linh turned away and stifled a giggle.

The bell rang and Wylie went to his locker to grab his books for year eleven English and walked to his class.

After school he met up with Biana and Fitz in the parking lot near their car.

"I call driving!" Biana yelled.

"I call shotgun," Fitz and Wylie yelled at the same time.

"Boys boys, you know what has to happen now," said Biana getting ready to referee what was going to happen. "One, two, three, Rock! Paper! Scissors!" She said as Wylie and Fitz unleashed their weapons. Wylie beat Fitz's paper with his scissor and got into the front seat next to Biana.

"It's not fair really, Mom gave me her old car when I turned sixteen, so I should be the one to drive it," Fitz grumbled from the back seat, his long legs barely fitting.

"Then you shouldn't be so predictable, Fitzy poo," Biana sang from the driver seat as she pulled out of the parking lot and into the three o'clock traffic.

The whole ride home they sang along to the radio, they knew all the words at this point, Britshire only had one Radio station and they had played the same songs over and over again since before Wylie had been born.

They walked through the door and left their shoes and bags in the entryway. Wylie went to the pantry and grabbed the goldfish crackers to eat in his room while he facetimed Linh.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Hey Wylie, what's up?" she said.

"The sky duh, you should really know this, Linh we have been friends for a really long time now."

"Anyway, how do you like the new pieces for band?"

"They're horrible, like why not give the flutes and clarinets and trumpets and altos the melody, god knows their used to it. Me a a trombone and the rest of the lower instruments are used to just playing backup lines and resting for long periods of time."

"You should be happy, you finally get the melody isn't this a trombone's dream?"

He heard a crash and some yelling and Linh jumped, even though this happened like everyday.

"Your parents fighting again?" he asked

"Yeah, now it's about how she never does anything to help out and he deserved time to grieve for his sons."

"Hey, at least they're not fighting about you again right," he asked trying to keep her attention on him instead of the screaming and loud noises coming from the other room.

"Yeah at least they're not doing that again, that black eye didn't go away for like a month." she tried to laugh it off, but he could still see the fear in her eyes.

"Hey do you want to come over and eat food and talk about stuff?"

"Of course I would but, they will never let me leave the house at this point."

He heard the voices get louder and her door get whacked with something before the handle started to jiggle.

"Wylie I got to go now okay, I'll see you tomorrow," she said fear obviously creeping into her voice. Before he had time to protest she hung up on him. Leaving him with the sight of her father standing in her doorway, her door swinging off its hinges, a murderous glare on his face.

She came to school the next day with a broken rib and arm, stitches going up her face.


	3. chapter 3

Everything was normal, Sophie and Fitz were talking by their lockers; promising to be together till they died and all that. Dex and Biana were comparing their french notes at one of the cafeteria tables. Keefe had roped Jensi and Valin into one of his pranks. Linh was… in a wheelchair. That part was not normal. He wheeled her down the halls and towards their lockers.

"You know that I can wheel myself around, you don't need to be there to push me."

"What and leave you all by yourself to get hit in the face with book bags and stray hands, I don't think so."

"You have classes too Wylie. You can't be late to everyone because you decided to wheel me to class."

"Well I have something called manners and I thought this was a good way to spend some time together, Your locker m'lady."

"Thank you kind sir, you are quite chivalrous." he opened his own locker and got his books….

 _Bang_

"What the…" he started.

 _Bang, Bang_

The hallways erupted in screams. People were running and running fast towards the exits and the announcement system was playing.

"Attention students and teachers, this is not a drill. Please proceed to the nearest classroom. Attention students and teachers this is not a drill please proceed to the nearest classroom. Attention.." Wylie tuned out after that.

"We have to go, Now." The hallways had mainly cleared at that point only the struggling student trying to get their things from the floor were left.

"My, My, My look who decided to show up."said a voice.

"Well I go to school here so…." The man was wearing a mask so Wylie couldn't see his face but he knew that voice. It was the voice that came to his house every saturday afternoon to take Biana and Fitz to lunch.

"Alden Vacker." he spat.

"Wylie Endal," he spat back. "I hoped I would run into you here. Your father has said great things about you in the time I spend at the prison."

"Delta one come in Delta one," came a voice from the walkie-talkie " Delta one do you read me."

"I read you," said Alden.

"Good, we found a girl hiding in a closet, she took off your way."

"I'll handle her." Just as he said that Maruca ran by and Alden raised his gun and squeezed the trigger. She fell to the ground, dead.

Linh screamed, a reasonable response Wylie thought. Alden looked at his watch and raised the walkie-talkie to his lips.

"Delta two, Alpha three and Omega our mission has been completed it's time to make our escape." Wylie knew he should try to follow him but all he could do was stare in horror at Maruca. He distanly heard sirens in the distance.

Hours later, he was sitting in a hospital waiting room chair, waiting for Linh. They had taken her in after Alden had left. He looked up at the TV the news was playing, he expected to see the school and something about Maruca but instead they were showing footage of the prison.

"Earlier today convicted felon and murderer Prentice Endal escaped from the Britshire Prison," the reporter stopped and looked behind the camera. "We have breaking news, It seems that the school shooting and Endal's escape were at the same time, police suspect that Endal was working with forces outside of the prison to coordinate his escape." The camera switched from the reporter at the prison.

"We have chief Sencen here with us, Chief Sencen how do you think that Prentice Endal escaped from prison.?

"Well we don't know, all security cameras were wiped clean and there were no signs of him breaking out but I assure you that I have my best detectives on the case, we will find him."

"And while you and your police force are finding him how do you think that the citizens of Britshire should stay safe."

"Well we advise that citizens do not go out at night, always keep a cell phone on you and travel in pairs."

"How long do you think that it will take for you to catch the guy?"

"We suspect that is shouldn't be more than a few days and in the meantime stay safe."

"Thank you chief Sencen, I'm Oralie VonHaughinton, back to you Alina." The camera switched back to the set.

"Thank you Oralie for that pressing update, and now the weather with Bronte."

Linh emerged from one of the exam rooms, the stitches along her face had been taken out.

"You didn't have to wait for me, I know that Della and Tiregan are probably worried."

"They probably are but I wanted to walk you home first."

"Can we take a walk?"

"Well are you asking if I can take a walk and you can continue to stay in that wheelchair."

"I'm asking you if you want to push me around downtown," she asked.

"Well in that case I'd be delighted."

They walked all around the city, and came to a stop near the candy store. It had always been a mystery to Wylie. He had lived in this town his whole life and that candy store had never opened. There was sign that read: closed for renovations. But what renovations could take seventeen years.

Linh sighed.

"What's on your mind there Linh?" he asked.

"Nothing much, it just seems that every day something bad happens. Sometimes it's the small things, getting a bloody nose in gym class or twisting your ankle on your way home from school. But then there are days like this when everything goes downhill and you just want leave it all behind."

"It sounds like you've been thinking of this alot,"

"I just want to skip ahead to the part where we ride off into the sunset, not a care in the world. To a place with no death and no weird things and no candy stores that should be open. To a place where our crappy parents don't exist and I can walk and talk and laugh without my ribs hurting."

"Did you see that?" he asked suddenly.

"No, what did you see?"

"I thought I saw someone moving inside the candy store,"

"That's ridiculous nobody could be in there it's been closed and bolted shut for years. Remember, Keefe tried to break in a few years back."

"You're right I'm just being paranoid. It's not every day when your crazy murderer father escapes from prison."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, can we just get back to the part about sunsets and rainbows with no crazy parents."

"Sure but not now, It's getting late and I think I should head back,"

"Yeah probably," he said, then changed his mind. "Or."

"Or what?"

"Or, I know a place that's perfect for watching the sunset."

"That sounds better than what's waiting for me at my house."

They walked for a while until he saw it, the tree where he had carved his initials into when he was ten so that he could find the spot again.

"It's just through here," he said and pushed linh onto the path, worn down from countless visits to his spot.

"Wow," Linh said. It was amazing, the spot lead to a clearing that looked towards the western horizon The sun was setting and the sky was filled with colors.

"This is amazing,"

"Yeah it kinda is," Then he leaned in and kissed her, and she kissed him back.

They sat there for a while kissing and talking about nothing just being themselves until they could barely keep their eyes open.

"This is perfect," he said to no one in particular.

"Yeah it kinda is."

 **(A:/N) Allison: Hi I hope you liked the chapter.**

 **Carin: Hi *waves***


	4. Chapter 4

Wylie had never really liked funerals, sure he had only been to two, but it was enough. He had only talked to Stina like twice but he was quite sure he didn't like her.

They were just so stuffy, full of people telling him they were sorry for his loss and if he was close with the deceased. There would be long speeches full of experiences that he really didn't care about and afterwards there would be some sort of party. He hadn't been able to attend the party following his mother's funeral but he had been told it was nice.

He hadn't known is cousin Maruca that well but she was family, even if they didn't really talk much, on account of his father being in prison and the real only person they both had in common- his mother- dead. He had been one of the people to witness her death and all. At least he hadn't been asked to speak at the service or recount the tale of her death.

He listened to her family tell them how, Maruca had been an amazing person not deserving of her fate. How she had so much left to live for. She had just gotten her acceptance letter from the local college. He watched Juline Diznee walk up to the podium. As she was the mayor of the town it seemed fitting that she would be asked to speak.

"I was deeply saddened by the news that Maruca's death," she started. "As a mother I think that it's terrible for a parent to lose their child, especially in these circumstances. I was also saddened by the fact that the peace that I and my fellow members of council have achieved was disrupted. I assure the people of Britshire that I, along with the police will catch the people who did this, before they can do it again." She stepped off the podium and took her place in the seats.

After many more speeches, the people of Britshire followed the priest to the small graveyard at the back of the church. There, he watches as Maruca's family lowered her into the ground and layed a dozen roses on her coffin.

"Hey," said a voice at his shoulder.

"Hey yourself," he said. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. In the month since, the prison break him and Linh had become quite close.

"It was a nice service."

"Yeah it was nice,"

"You don't have to worry, I'm sure if Prentice was going to strike he would have done it by now."

"Knock on wood."

"Right, knock on wood."

The party afterwards was a lively affair. As much as a party following a funeral could be. There were drinks and chips and music. Everyone was telling their favourite stories, but since Wylie hadn't known her that well, the only real story he had was when she died. And that wasn't something you told at the person's wake. He just hung out there with his friends. Keefe and Dex had been chosen to bring the group some snacks. But before they could Wylie was intercepted by his history teacher, Mrs. Miller.

"You know Wylie, Maruca was in my class last semester, quite the little genius," she had clearly been to the drinks table a few times. "How did you know her dear?"

"Maruca was my second cousin actually,"

"Well how 'bout that,"

"We weren't very close, her mother kind lost all interest in me when my mother was killed." Someone came up and whispered something in Mrs. Miller's ear.

"Well I must be off, it has been a real pleasure talking to you about this, you take care now dear,"

"Goodbye Mrs. Miller, see you in class next Monday."

The next day, Wylie, Linh, Keefe, Dex, Biana, Fitz and Sophie were all walking down to the diner where they usually get lunch on sundays. Why they weren't taking the car, was a complete mystery. It was a tradition that they started back when they were twelve and had to have their parents drop them off and sit and another table.

They were just walking past the twenty- four hour gas station when they heard a scream. Marella ran out of the store and right into their group.

"What happened," asked almost all the group, except for Sophie who said nothing.

"Gas station…. Turned away… Stina… ground," she said in between sobs.

"Marella, calm down just breathe, what happened to Stina." It took almost a full minute to calm her down enough for her to speak in sentences.

"Stina and I were here getting gas, and she told me to go and grab some snacks. We were planning to go camping with a few others next weekend and she wanted to be prepared. I was paying for ou things when I heard a thump and went over to investigate. That's when I saw her on the ground, there was foam coming from her mouth and she was convulsing I didn't know what to do. But as soona s it started it stopped and she was gone." Marella collapsed into hysterics.

"We should call nine-one-one, there could be a chance that Stina's still alive,"suggested Sophie.

"I'll go check, I have the most experience with medical stuff," said Dex before running into the store.

The emergency vehicles arrived soon after but they were too late, Stina had died. Everyone was gathered around the body in the gas station as they loaded her onto a gurney and into the ambulance. All of a sudden the news that had been playing in the background switched. In place of Alina, the regular anchor sat a man in a mask.

"Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming, but there has been a shocking development in the case of Miss Maruca Endal's murder. We did it. Who are we you ask? Well were the people of this town who preferred it in it's days of chaos and disorder. Before we elected a new mayor and everything became _peaceful_. We have a name. Periculos. We're everywhere, there are members of us wherever you look. You just don't know who." The screen went black and Wylie looked at the people around him. They were in real trouble now.

 **(A:/N) Allison: Actual conversation that Carin and I had:**

 **Allison: *won't tell Carin that she was right in an argument over what is the most common last name***

 **Carin: *Starts removing my access to documents***

 **Now for the most underrated quote in Keeper of the lost cities**

" **What are dollars?"**

" **Human money"**

" **Ew,"**

 **Bye for now**

 **Allison**


	5. Chapter 5

Wylie remembered the time before Juline was mayor quite clearly. Alden barely was ever seen in the office, spent most of his time in the bar. There had been a gang like these so-called Periculos. They really didn't have a name but they had been like this. Killing people with almost no reason or pattern. He thought that the police had caught all of the killers. They had become a landmark town, just not in the way that they wanted. The city of killings they called them.

Wylie thought that that time was over, that Juline had eradicated anything related to the killings. She built a new town hall, police station, and prison. The people of Britshire, England were finally safe and happy. There was a time of peace.

That time was over.

The doorbell rang out through the house.

"I'll get it!" yelled Biana. Wylie went to the railing overlooking the front entrance to see who it was. Linh, also Sophie and Dex and Keefe but he really didn't see them. She looked really pretty.

"Hey, guys what are you doing here?" Biana asked. Fitz came to stand next to Wylie by the railing.

"We were really bored and decided that maybe we could try investigating the murders," said Sophie.

"Like old times," Fitz said. It was true. When they were ten-ish they had a club where they solved mysteries. They had never really solved anything, only cases of where did Della hide the remote so they would go outside and play.

"Why would we do that?" asked Wylie.

"Because it's been almost three days since Stina died and all of you have been sulking away when we could be solving this," reasoned Sophie.

"I don't know Sophie, I think that it's best if we stay inside and out of the way, plus when we were kids we solved tiny cases. This is the complete opposite of a tiny case," said Fitz.

"Oh come on guys, we need a little adventure in our lives. I already convinced Linh, Dex, and Keefe, we don't need you to help us,"

"Fine, but only if we are very careful."

"Agreed."

"And if we turn back and call the police at the first sign of danger."

"Fine," Sophie agreed.

Fifteen minutes later they were all piled into Fitz's car. Fitz at the wheel- at his insistence. They were headed to the gas station where Stina had been found and Sophie was reciting what they knew already.

"So we know that Stina was poisoned, the police confirmed that in the newspaper that morning. We know that the poison was administered via digestion. Whether or not that means that someone gave her something in the gas station or that she had eaten something and the symptoms just started taking effect we don't know."

"We also know that it was probably the so-called _Periculos-_ which by the way just means danger in Latin- killed her," added Dex.

"Right, so what do we start with," asked Biana.

"I say we start with checking to see if there are any other points of entry that Stina' killer could have come in from." Fitz pulled out an old notebook from the driver side door pocket. Everyone groaned.

"Really Fitz?" asked Wylie. "The notebook?"

"I thought that someone had burned that," said Biana.

"Nope, it's been sitting in my desk for seven years just waiting to be used again."

They had checked every inch of the gas station. But there were no other ways that anyone could have gotten in from.

"I think that we are getting at this from the wrong angle," said Wylie. "Why are we trying to find a single member of the Periculos when we could be trying to find out where they are hiding."

"You want us to try to find the hideout for the secret gang of murderers."

"Yes."

"That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard, let's do it," said Sophie. They all piled into the car and we driving along the highway when Keefe said something that they hadn't really thought of.

"So where are we going? We don't know where they are hiding out. The man on the television said that they were hiding in plain sight. Which by the way to anyone who might be wondering, is freaking everywhere."

"That's a good point Keefe, way to ruin the moment," said Dex.

"We know that Alden Vacker is probably part of the Periculos," suggested Wylie, "That's a start."

"I think we should go back to my place and plan out our next attack, we may not have accomplished anything today but we have started something, the gang is back!"

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted. Fitz cranked up the radio and they all sang out of key to the music that has been playing since forever.

That night, when they were all lying on the floor of Dex's living room, in their pajamas and sleeping peacefully. Juline came in, it was probably around two in the morning, she was on the phone and didn't seem to notice that Wylie was up.

"What?" she exclaimed. "That's three in three days, I can't deal with this right now, I just got home and can't deal with any more murders. I call you back in the morning Carl but you call Marella and Valin's parents in the morning and tell them the news. I'll be sure to drop by their house tomorrow to offer my condolences."

So they struck again.

 **(A:/N) Allison: So this was a kinda slow chapter, but the story will pick up soon. I promise.**

 **Bye for now.**


	6. Chapter 6

They heard the official statement in the paper three days later. Since then, Sophie, Fitz, Dex, Biana, Keefe, Linh and himself had been going out and looking for the Periculos hideout. They hadn't found anything clue like but, they had identified the speaker in the mask, probably. Quinlin. Surprisingly Fitz had gotten a voice matcher app on his phone. All they had to do was collect some voices and run them through the matcher with the recording from the radio. Quinlin had been over at their house, some legal stuff that Alden still hadn't settled. Fitz had left his phone recording in the living room while him and Della were talking.

"You do realise that you could go to jail for recording someone without their permission!" Sophie half whisper yelled at Fitz in his bedroom when they found out what he had done.

"Eh, details," he replied.

"You are getting way to into this, just last week you were telling us that this wasn't a good idea. Now, you've renamed the group chat "Sherlock Holmes and friends"." Alongside the group chat renaming, Fitz had been taking some very thorough notes at every place they'd been too. His phone wa crammed full of pictures.

"Changing the subject, I was thinking that we should check out downtown today. It's one of the places on my list that we haven't checked out," Fitz said.

"You'll have to do without Dex, and Keefe. They're going down to the lake to work on a bio project."

"I think we should split up," suggested Fitz, "We can cover more ground that way."

"Like, spilt up into teams of what, there are five of us," said Biana.

"Sophie and I will take the florist, the bakery and the cake shop. You, Wylie and Linh will take the the general store, the dentist and the candy store."

"That sounds good,"

Wylie and Linh set out towards the dentist's office, Biana on their heels. The office was closed so they couldn't look inside but form the looks of the front window it was normal. The general store had similar results. They at least were open. They had to tell the store manager that they were doing a piece for the school newspaper, so that they could get into the back room. But there was nothing of interest there.

Finally they went to the candy store. Fitz and Sophie were still at the florist. They came up to the window and cleared away some of the dust. It looked like a candy store. Ready for business. There was even candy on the shelves. It did look pretty old. Like something out of a old photograph in a museum. On the counter near the back there was duffel bag. It was the only thing that looked new in the store. Wylie sent off a quick text to Fitz and Sophie.

Wylie: Hey we found something at the candy store.

Fitz: We'll be right over.

They jogged over to them and Wylie stepped back to allow them to look into the store.

"On the back shelf there is a duffel bag," he said.

"I think we should go in," Biana said. She pulled out a lock pick from her purse.

"Why do you have a lock pick in your purse?" asked Sophie.

"For situations when I have to break into places," she replied.

"Do you know how to use one?" Fiz asked.

"Of course, dear brother. You still think that It was a magical elf that broke into your desk drawer." She started picking the lock. It was obvious that she had done this before. Wylie moved to open the door when Linh stopped him with her hand.

"I think that there is probably one of those bell on the door. We should move quietly in case there is one." They moved very slowly and very quietly through the doorway. Linh was right, there was a bell by the door. It only rang softly before Biana grabbed at it with a handkerchief.

They spread out throughout the store. All of the candies were so old. It looked like this place had once been open, judging from the "most valued customer: Jensi Jones" picture hanging up on the wall. It looked like Jensi, but that was impossible. Jensi was their age. Right?

"Hey guys I think I found something," Fitz said from behind the old ice cream counter. They all heard a creak and then they saw a trap door come up from the floor.

Wylie looked at the others. They all nodded in silent agreement and followed Fitz down the trapdoor. It wasn't a long way down but it felt long all the same.

"Hey Biana you got a flashlight in you purse." Fitz asked.

"You bet I do," she replied and tossed him the flashlight. Fitz shone the beam of light around the room. Or at least Wylie thought it had been a room. It was more of a tunnel, stretching out before them.

"Well, I guess we're going on a walk," said Sophie. And walk they did. For only around two minutes before they came across a door. It was kinda like a door in the hospital for the insane. Only able to lock form the outside. The door at least looked pretty new. And there were grooves in the door so it was probably used quite regularly.

Fitz reached up and started to turn the lock. It creaked and groaned. Before he could fully turn the lock Sophie stopped him.

"What if what's behind that door is dangerous?" she whispered.

"What if it's not," he whispered back.

"We should try to find something to fight with, just in case," Linh whispered. They all looked at Biana. She silently pulled a can of pepper spray from her purse. Wylie took it and nodded to Fitz. He turned the lock the rest of the way and pulled open the door.

The room was small and at first it looked like nothing was there. Fitz shone the flashlight around and it landed on a figure. It was a person. They were huddled in the corner. Linh stepped closer she looked into the person's eyes with confusion.

"He looks like what Linh would look like if she was a guy," Fitz whispered into Wylie's ear.

"I can't believe it," Linh whispered, "Tam?"


	7. Chapter 7

Tam Song had been killed when Wylie was five. The story had been all over the news for weeks on end. It had made the national, and international news. So call Wylie surprised when the blood tests came back and confirmed that he was, in fact, Tam Song. Linh had immediately latched on to him. She hadn't seen her brother for more than ten years and she was making up for it now. Tam had been just as clingy. Now, a week or so later. Linh and Tam were on the floor of his room while he did his homework. Linh was also supposed to be doing her homework but she had decided instead to tell Tam what had happened during his time in the cell.

"Then Sophie and Fitz declared themselves a couple when they were six and they've been together ever since."

"I think that that is a bit too much like a fairy tale to be true, Linh," he said.

"Nope it's totally true, We've been together for almost eleven years now," said Fitz who had been passing by the door.

"Wow," said Tam. Wylie looked up from his homework.

"Hey Linh, can you help me with the math problem?" he asked.

"You know I suck at math," she replied without looking away from her homework -now resumed.

"I can help you, I got pretty good at math down in that cell," said Tam.

"How?" asked Linh.

"Well I think that they wanted me to be their math guy or something so they started teaching me to do stuff," he replied. "So you have to divide this fraction then multiply it by its counterpart down here. Then when you've done that, then you add this number right here."

"Wow, that's actually correct."

"Well don't look so surprised," he said. Wylie closed up his homework.

Tam was staying with them, his and Linh's parents had not wanted the "filthy boy" in their house. Della and Tiergan had been more than happy to take him in. Surprisingly the Periculos had been quite nice to him. He had been well fed and hydrated and given the proper vitamins so that he could survive.

Biana had decided to take a trip up to London so that she could visit with her great gran something. She just couldn't take the stress of the murders (it was making her breakout). So she couldn't help them out anymore. She had left them her tools for solving mysteries.

Wylie's phone rang. Fitz was calling, he was supposed to be out on a date with Sophie down by the lake. He never called during dates.

"Hello, Fitz?" he answered.

"Hey Wylie," his voice was shaking and Wylie could hear Sophie in the background, it sounded like she was crying. "So I need you, Linh and Tam to come down ny the lake."

"Why, what's happened?"

"So Sophie and I were having a picnic by the lake when she saw something in the reeds. At first, we thought it was only a log, but when she went to take a closer look it wasn't. It was…" his voice cracked and he sounded near crying. "It was... It was, a body, Keefe's body."

"Oh my god, Fitz, Fitz listen to me stay calm, we'll be right there."

"Guys, we need to go, I'll explain on the way." He jumped up and almost ran for the door when he realized that Fitz had taken their car on the date with Sophie.

"Mom, Dad I need to take your car, I'll return it I promise but this is important." He didn't wait for their response and trusted that Linh and Tam were behind him.

On the road, he explained what Fitz had told him on the phone. He thought that the Periculos wouldn't attack again for a while, and when they did it would be someone else. It had never occurred to him that they would kill Keefe. Or any member of their little mystery club.

They arrived at the lake. Fitz and Sophie were both at the edge looking at something that could not have been anything else but a body. Wylie rushed over to them. He looked down at the body. It was Keefe. A bloated Keefe, but it was him. Beside him, Linh gasped. Sophie was clinging to Fitz for dear life and Fitz looked about ready to collapse.

"I think that we should call the police," suggested Tam. He was the only one who had not known Keefe and as such was the most clear-headed of the group.

The funeral was three days later. They had a closed casket, for obvious reasons. Wylie was sitting next to Della and Tiergan, they watched Fitz get up to the podium to start his speech. "Keefe Sencen was my best friend. He grew up next to us and we became close friends. Even though he was a year younger than me we were in the same year at school. He was the first person I told when I started dating Sophie and the person I could confide all my secrets in. He was also quite the prankster as most of you probably know. To this day I still don't know how he did most of them." His voice cracked and a tear slid down his cheek. "Keefe was a good man and deserved better than to only live sixteen years. Rest in peace old friend." He stepped off the podium and went back to sit with them.

The rest of the funeral passed very quickly for Wylie. Keefe's mother was crying and his father was a stoic as ever. Barely showing any emotion. When the service was over they all went out to the cemetery and watched as Keefe was lowered into the ground.

Everyone left for the wake but Wylie and the rest of them stayed. They watched the sunset and told stories of Keefe and his greatest pranks. They still didn't know how he got so many muskrats into the school.

 **(A;/N) Allison: So if you couldn't tell the muskrats were my equivalent to the great gulon incident.**

 **I'm going to go and hide from the people who are mad that I killed Keefe now.**

 **Bye till next update**

 **Allison.**


	8. Chapter 8

When Wylie awoke to fire in his face he thought for sure that he was going to die. When he heard ominous chanting he thought that he was being killed in a cult. And then the lights came on. Della and Tiergan were standing over his bed with a cake, candles lit. Fitz and surprisingly Tam were singing happy birthday.

"Happy Birthday Wylie," they all sang together.

"Did you know that you sound like a murder cult?" he asked.

"I told you we should have been more upbeat, it's not every day your boy turns seventeen," replied Tiergan.

"So how do you feel?" asked Fitz.

"Like a whole new Wylie," he said, sarcastically. "I know that it's my birthday and everything, but it's also like six am and I want to go back to sleep." They all left, wishing him a happy birthday on their way out. They did this every year. To everyone, in the family. They would wake up early, get the cake and light the candles and wake the birthday person in the dark.

Wylie sighed and looked out the window. The snow that had fallen the night before, was sparkling on the treetops.

Hours later when Wylie was sufficiently rested, he went downstairs to find that Della and Tiergan had made his favorite breakfast. Pancakes and bacon with some sort of smoothie to drink. Next to the breakfast were a pile of gifts. All addressed to Wylie.

"Oh go on," said Della, "Open them!" He opened the first one, from Della: A golden statue of an animal that could only be described as a dinosaur with feathers. Tiergan's gift was some T-shirts with words on them. Fitz had given him a device that looked strangely like a lockpick. With a note that said, "For when Biana isn't there." Tam had given him a card with the note saying, "Happy whatever birthday to the guy dating my sister." Along with that, there was a hand drawn picture of Tam doing two thumbs up. Wylie thanked them and ate his breakfast in silence.

It was one of Britshire's many traditions to have a festival celebrating the first day of Winter. It also happened to be on his birthday, Almost every year. When he was little he was convinced that the festival was in honor of his birthday, it never worked but always did end up with him getting a free hot chocolate from the drinks stand. Linh, Sophie and Dex were waiting for them by the bonfire. The loss of Keefe had made a great impact on the group and as such, they were not as lively as they usually were at the festival. To be fair, Keefe had usually dragged them out of the proximity of the bonfire and towards the games and all that stuff.

He reached them and Linh snuggled into his side. Even in all of the layers, she was wearing, she was still really cold. Tam on the other hand, was perfectly fine in an old think coat and hat. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"So," he whispered in her ear, "how are you liking the festival so far?"

"Better now that you're here," she whispered back. "Happy birthday, by the way." She handed him a wrapped box. "Open it," she prompted. He opened it to find a smaller box, wrapped this time in golden wrapping paper. He tore that paper away to find a watch. It was gold and when he flipped it over he found that it was engraved, with the words _So you'll never be late to our dates babe._

"Babe?" he questioned.

"I was trying something out," she said defensively. He kissed her cheek.

"Thank you Linh, I love it"

"Hey lovebirds!" called Fitz. "Are you going to join us? We're going to go and play some games." They walked over to the group. They had gathered around one of the games where you had to squirt water into a cardboard cutout's mouth. Fitz was up first. He made a real show of lining up the water gun and winking at Sophie as he squeezed the trigger.

"Miss! Miss! Miss!" they all chanted. Well everyone but Sophie who looked really exasperated at everyone. Much to all of their chagrin, Fitz won and got to pick a prize: a goldfish. He gave it to Sophie, with a kiss on the cheek and an I love you.

"What am I supposed to do with a goldfish?" she asked.

"Take care of him, love him and give him a name. I want you to treat this goldfish like your own flesh and blood."

"Like my little fish child."

" _Our_ little fish child. Don't think I'm not going to be involved."

Later, after they had played all the games, They were sitting on logs by the bonfire and eating something called maple taffy. It was maple syrup on snow on a stick. It was really good. Sophie and Fitz were practically sitting on one another, Tam and Dex were debating the best way to solve physics problems and he and Linh were watching them do all this. Keefe may be gone and the wounds may still be fresh but they would heal and they had already started to.

"Why hello, dear citizens of Britshire," said a voice from behind him. Prentice. He was with around six-ish other guys and they all were carrying guns. "Did you miss me?"

Chief Sencen jumped up, "Prentice, Stop in the name of the law!"

"The law," he said, "Please the law is stupid and pointless. Why follow rules when breaking them is much more fun." He raised his gun and took aim at the crowd. "Now where shall I start, with a random person in the crowd or something a bit more _personal,"_ he aimed the gun at their small group huddled around the bonfire.

"Stop why are you doing this?" asked someone in the crowd.

"To take back control and to show the people what happens when you elect a _woman_ to be your leader." One of the Periculos behind him took aim at the woman who asked. They pulled the trigger. _Bang._ Then they looked at someone else. _Bang._ All the while Prentice was still aiming at their group.

"You can stop these murders, Juline. If you just resign as mayor and give the town over to my associates we will stop killing people. Promise." Wylie could no longer see the man he once called his father. All that was left was this cruel and sick man that stood before him. He moved the gun slightly lower and pulled the trigger. Everyone flinched. Wylie checking himself and Linh, they were both fine. Maybe it had been a blank. Then he heard a gasp. He looked towards the sound and saw Sophie, both hands pressed to her stomach with blood oozing out of her fingers.

Wylie looked for Prentice and the others, but they were gone. When he turned back Fitz was cradling Sophie in his arms.

"Sophie, Sophie look at me okay. You're going to be fine, okay." His voice was cracking and tears were pouring down his face.

"Together till we die right?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"No, No, Sophie you're going to be fine and we'll be together forever and well get married and live in a house by the lake, Okay?"

"I will always love you, Fitz,"

"And I will always love you too Sophie, but you're going to be okay, alright." She was coughing up blood and her face was deadly pale. Fitz was basically sobbing over her. She took one last shallow breath and never took one again.

 **(A:/N) Allison: not gonna lie, I cried when I wrote that, and I've known that that's been coming for months now. I know that I shouldn't be inraging the fandom more but it's too much fun to kill characters. I know how you feel Carin.**

 **I'm going to go back to my hiding from fangirl spot. Bye for now**

 **Allison.**

 **Carin: Hello. I am also here *waves***


	9. Chapter 9

Funerals were becoming something of a normal around the town of Britshire. Just as you thought that you were done with dressing in black and listening to speeches and standing out in the cold watching someone bury their loved one forever. Another one came up. First, it was Maruca, then it was Stina, then Valin and Marella, then Keefe. And now, Sophie.

Wylie barely paid attention during Sophie's funeral. He knew that he should, it was one of his best friends funerals. He barely paid attention when her coffin was carried out and into the chapel, by Grady, Fitz, Dex, and Verdi. In hindsight, it was a pretty extra funeral, but hey, Sophie was a pretty extra person. Wylie was knocked out of his thought when Fitz cleared his throat.

"Hello, my name is Fitz Vacker. Sophie and I were, well, the closest thing I can think of to describe us is soulmates. She was my other half and really, she still is. A part of me died when she did and it will probably never be filled till I die. When I looking for things to say for this I found a poem that describes our relationship well.

" _You never said I'm leaving_

 _You never said goodbye_

 _You were gone before we knew it_

 _And only God knows why_

 _A million times I needed you_

 _A million times I cried_

 _If love alone could save you_

 _You never would have died_

 _In life I loved you dearly_

 _In death I love you still_

 _On my heart, I hold a place_

 _That only you can fill._

I love you, Sophie, I'll see you again someday." Fitz's voice held strong throughout his speech. He never cried, his voice never cracked. He supposed that was what happens when your other half, your "soulmate" as Fitz had put it died. His thoughts shifted to Linh. What would he do if she died? It was a sure possibility now, there had been two murders in their group and nobody knew when this thing was going to stop.

Sophie's gravestone was simple, but elegant all the same. It's inscription read.

 _Here lies Sophie Elizabeth Foster_

 _Daughter, Friend._

Dex reached into his pocket and retrieved a sticky note.

"It's what she would have wanted," he said then stuck it up next to the other descriptions. _Mother of Billy Vacker, the fish RIFP._ Wylie let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, she would have wanted that to be on there." There was a moment of silence. "So I was thinking that we should go back to the candy store and look around some more. All the town is going to be at the wake so it should be empty."

"Wylie, I think that we should take a break from this whole mystery solving thing, look at what it has cost us." Dex nodded in agreement. "I'm not blaming you or anything, but I don't want to risk losing anybody else." Linh looked like she was going to agree with Fitz.

"I think that we should take some time off and come at this again another time, Sophie and Keefe just died. I think we should have some time to mourn and think about if we should do this."

They all started walking to Havenfield, where the wake was being held. Tam grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear.

"Hey, I think that we should go to the candy store, we can do it, just the two of us. It'll be more conspicuous that way."

"Okay," he whispered back, then raised his voice so that the rest of them could hear him. "Hey guys, I just remembered that I left my….my…. Lucky chalice back at the house. Tam? Do you want to go and get it with me?"

"Sure, I think I left mine back at the house to," he replied. A lot more obvious than was necessary.

They were about a block away from the candy store when they heard some voices. Tam pushed Wylie against the wall beside him. He peered over the corner to look at the guys.

"It looks like they're going into the candy store. I don't know who they are, but you might." Wylie looked around the corner to see the guys. They were huddled around the entrance to the shop. Wylie did recognize the men. Or two men one woman. Emery, the local radio anchor, Quinlin he was a lawyer in the court and Cadence, Wylie's French tutor.

"Do you think that they're in the Periculos," asked Tam.

"Why else would they be gathered around the entrance to the candy store that we know is one of the hideouts for the Periculos." Tam looked like he was going to make a sassy comeback but he was interrupted when Emery, Cadence, and Quinlin disappeared into the store.

"I think that we should head back to the wake," said Wylie. "They will start to wonder where we are."

When they got back to the wake, it was in full swing. Or as lively as a party celebrating the short life of a teenage girl could be. People were dancing the ballroom, yeah there was a ballroom. Others had decided to stand and chat with their friends. Fitz, Linh, and Dex were with the latter. Their expressions were somber, with a tinge of worry clouding their blue eyes. When they spotted Wylie and Tam, they perked up and started to make their way over towards them.

"Hey where have you been?" asked Linh. "You missed Juline's announcement."

"What did she say?" asked Tam.

"You know, the usual. How sorry she was that another teenager was laid to rest because of the Periculos. But then she dropped the bombshell that it was worth considering resigning if the murders would stop."

"Can she do that?" asked Wylie. "Doesn't she need like a majority vote from the council.

"Unanimous, but yes. Technically, if she could convince the council that resigning her position and their's too mind you, was worth not doing this every weekend." Dex gestured to the wake. "If and that's a big if she can convince them, then Prentice could have the town in his hands."

"What happens if he gets the town?"

"Then Tam, we're all majorly screwed."

 **(A:/N) Allison: So that was a chapter. Just some clarifiers. RIFP stands for Rest in Fish Peace. Carin and I were on the phone when I was writing that scene and she kept bugging me to put the fish from the last chapter in.**

 **Carin: Fishes *waves with both hands* **otherwise considered jazz hands****

 **Bye, Allison**


	10. Chapter 10

Wylie, Linh, Dex and Tam were huddled around Wylie's desk looking at a single piece of lined paper. On the paper were the names of all the known members of the Periculos. It was distressingly short. Prentice, Emery, Cadence, Quinlin, and Alden were all printed at the top of the page. They had left blank spaces of the sheet of paper, there had to have been more of them right?

Fitz was down the hall, doing his homework, angry rock music blaring from the speakers. He was listening to Sophie's angry playlist. He had made the decision to step away from the group. Well he had made the decision and not bothered to tell anyone but himself. The loss of Keefe, closely followed by Sophie had weakened the bonds of the group of friends. Fitz barely came out of his room. Della had taken to going up to his room and delivering it by hand.

"I think we should go back to the candy store," said Dex, breaking the silence. "This afternoon, my mom's going to be holding a press conference at city hall and all the town should be there."

"Do you think that she's going to resign as mayor," asked Linh quietly. They had all been waiting for the day when Juline resigned as mayor to stop the murders, though he doubted anyone actually thought that they would stop.

"No, she told me that it was just a time when she would answer questions from the townspeople about what was going on."

Dex was right, there was no one in the central square to the town. Every shop had been vacated and closed for the day. Even the fountain had stopped flowing.

"So, I was doing a little digging at City Hall the other day," Dex began. "It turns out that the candy store does not have an owner. There's almost no trace of it even existing. The only record I could find was an old lease signed with the name _Clarence Bernard Terik_. Which is weird cause that's old man Terik's name."

"That is weird," said Linh. "But we can't dwell on that because I think that now is the time to go." They rushed towards the store. Wylie slipped the lockpick from his jacket pocket. He didn't really know how to use it but, he had seen Biana do it once so he could probably copy it, probably. He raised the lockpick to the lock in question, and then he remembered that he hadn't actually watched Biana do this.

"Oh give it here," said Dex. he raised the lockpick to the lock and almost effortlessly picked it. "I've been practicing with some spare wire in my bedroom since you told me that Biana did it," he explained before reaching up and softening the bell with his gloved hand. They walked into the shop, it was unchanged from the last time he had visited. The same old candy, the same picture of Jensi on the wall. Wylie went behind the counter and was about to open up the hatch when something caught his eye. It was a book, similar to ones used in businesses today, in fact it was exactly like the ones used in businesses today. It was almost brand new. He walked over and opened it. Inside it was filled with lined paper. It appeared blank but as Wylie thumbed through the book he noticed writing filling the pages in the back. He opened the book to the written on pages.

"Guys, look." he called softly. The others came over and peered at the book with him.

"It looks like plans of some kind," said Linh. It did look like plans. And blueprints and sketches of roads and trails. Along each blueprint there was a set of instructions. _Wait for signal, kill only one, wait for others, use escape routes._ When he flipped through the pages, he saw that there was something that could only be described as a yearbook. There were no quotes, just pictures of everyone in the town. He flipped through those pages and came to a stop when he saw colour. Linh gasped. The page had big red Xs across the photos of Maruca, Stina, Valin, Marella, Keefe and Sophie.

The blueprints, the pictures, access a hideout that everyone thought was haunted. There was only one person in all of Britshire that held that much power. Fintan Pyren. He was the chief advisor to the mayor and held almost as much power as her. It all fell into place. The handwriting matched the ones that Tiergan left on his desk after coming home from a long day of work as a city councilman. He had probably been planning to do this since the day Juline beat him for the position as mayor.

"It's Fintan," he mumbled. "Fintan orchestrated the whole thing, every murder, every attack,,every move that they make, was made by Fintan."

"I think we should get out of here. It's starting to get kinda creepy," said Linh.

"Yeah, I think we should." they all agreed. Wylie took some pictures on his phone and followed the others out the door.

The next morning, when Della Tiergan and Wylie were all sitting around the breakfast table, listening to the radio when the usual music stopped and a man's voice came on.

"Attention people of Britshire, I have a report directly from city hall. This morning when City Hall was first opened a body was discovered. The police were called and the results from the blood test are in. The victim was none other than Dexter Allan Diznee, son of Mayor Diznee. He was found with a not in his pocket. It said, _Now you know not to go meddling in my business. If you know what's good for you you'll stay out of it._ The police have no suspects as of yet but We'll keep you posted." The radio announcer's voice was replaced by the cheery music that always played. But Wylie barely noticed. The Periculos had struck again.

 **(A:/N) Allison: So now I definitely have a problem with killing off characters. Also while I was writing the Radio announcer's scene I kept imagining his voice as the voice that does the catch ups in the Legend of Korra, sort of 1920s radio guy like.**

 **I forgot, In the last chapter All credit to the poem goes to the author.**

 **That's all for now, Ally**


	11. Chapter 11

At this point, Wylie had been to so many funerals they were starting to lose all meaning. The Diznees had pulled out all the stops. The usually dreary chapel had been transformed into something out of a fairy tale. With velvet drapes on the windows and, flowers decorating a shrine at the front. While the wake was going on in a tent at the back of the cemetery, Wylie slipped away and towards the section of the cemetery that he had nicknamed "The younger zone," it was the where all the children killed recently had been buried.

Wylie looked down at the stone slab in front of him.

 _Here lies Dexter Allan Diznee_

"I'm sorry," he said to the slab in front of him. "I shouldn't have gone back. I should have seen this coming, and told someone. Maybe Fitz is right, maybe it's best if we stop now, while we're ahead. Or not ahead, at this point, I think that we should give up because we failed." he sighed and sat down in front of the grave. Fitz was right. It was getting too dangerous now. They should quit while the remaining people are still alive. "I know that you probably can't hear me right now. You're dead. You're dead and there's nothing I can do about it. You knew just about everything about computers and I never realized how much I really depended on that. I know that this is probably way too late to say that but I guess that you never really know how much someone is impacting your life until their gone. You and Sophie and Keefe were some of the best people I knew and I wish that I could have told you that to your faces."

Wylie looked up when he heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow. Fitz came up and sat down next to him.

"You know that he and Biana were dating?" he asked. Wylie shook his head. "Yeah, they had been dating in secret so they could keep the group dynamic the same. Juline handed me some things that Dex had in his desk when they were going through his room. They were notes that Biana and Dex had been exchanging for a while."

"That was not what I was expecting when you came over here."  
"Not gonna lie, they are pretty gross. Like in the sense where they are so cute."

"Like, you and…." he paused, realizing his mistake almost immediately.

"Like me and Sophie?" Fitz asked. "You can say her name in front of me you know. I'm not as fragile as you think. Not anymore. I realized that she probably would have wanted me to be strong and steady."

"I think that she would be really proud of you right now."

"Yeah, and she would have been really happy for Dex and Biana."

"I think that Keefe would have been happy too."

"Yeah, he was always teasing everyone about who he thought they liked."

"The thing is, he was right. I did like Linh and Biana and Dex were dating."

"He might actually be a future, see-er person."

"Do you mean a physic?" he asked.

"Maybe?" he responded skeptically.

They settled into a comfortable silence. Wylie stood up a while later. He didn't know if Fitz noticed but if he did he showed no sign of it. Wylie walked over to the far corner of the small cemetery and followed the worn path to his mother's grave. He had come to his mother's grave at least once a month every month since she had died over ten years ago. Sometimes he brought flowers, other times he would talk to her grave. Telling her about his problems, sometimes just talking plain nonsense. This time though, he just sat at the grave.

He only looked up when he heard some commotion in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the chapel area. He made his way over the path quickly and arrived to see Fitz on the ground. Or at least it was most likely Fitz, due to the fact that Della was screaming and that Tiergan had to hold her back. Wylie pushed through the crowd to the front and almost gasped at what lied before him. Fitz was being hauled onto a stretcher by two paramedics. They were pressing a wad of cloth to his chest and had an oxygen mask on his face. Fitz's eyes were closed but Wylie guessed that he wasn't sleeping, he was murmuring Sophie's name and something about being together again.

In the back of his mind, he knew that he should be shocked. Or more likely horrified. Linh and Tam had rushed into the hospital and Linh had nearly knocked Wylie over because she was in tears. But Wylie was calm and collected. Maybe it was shock, or maybe it was the fact that he had witnessed the deaths of so many people that death just didn't affect him anymore. It was probably the former.

A doctor walked into his line of sight. The same one that had walked into the operating room when Fitz had been brought into it. He had been in surgery for around two hours now but he wasn't supposed to be done for another two, at least.

"Mrs. Vacker?" he called. Della stood up. Tiergan had to hold her up for the most part but she looked calmer than before. "I am very sorry to inform you that your son, Fitzroy passed away during surgery." With those few words, the calm that Della had put up fell down. She collapsed into one of the stiff waiting room chairs and broke down in sobs. Wylie went over and hugged her but she didn't seem to notice him. Besides the group, Linh said something that he knew was only supposed to be for herself.

"At least their together now."

 **(A:/N) Allison: Yep, I have a problem. Even though I had planned out all of the deaths months prior to this there's jus**

 **t some sort of feeling that you get when you actually write the scene.**

 **I also realized that I have written so many different funeral scenes. So many. All the funeral scenes. There are no more funerals to be had here, folks. No more they are all right here.**

 **If you can't tell I'm pretty tired so I'm going to go now. See you next update.**

 **-Allison.**


	12. Chapter 12

The hospital cafeteria smelled of old bread and something else that Wylie couldn't place. It was located on the sixth floor of the Britshire Hospital, next door to the pediatrics ward and underneath of the abandoned Psych ward. Wylie walked over to the small corner, where the coffee and vending machines were. He didn't dare try anything from the actual cafeteria, they smelled of rotten meat and old apples. He quickly purchased the coffees and was about to make his way back to where his parents were when he saw Linh sitting by the windows.

"Hey," he said, dropping into the seat opposite to her. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just about Fitz, how unlike the others, he didn't die all at once. And I don't know if that's a good thing."

"At least they're together now."

"What?"

"Sophie and Fitz, at least they're together now."

"Yeah, they are."

"Hey Wylie?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes, Linh?"

"I love you."

"Thank you."

"I don't think that's what you're supposed to say when someone says I love you for the first time."

"Unless you can prove it to me with scientific facts I will continue to assume that it is the appropriate response."

Linh looked down at her hands, they were in her lap being tangled into a position that didn't look too comfortable.

"Linh," he said. She looked up. "I love you too." She scooted her chair over to the other side of the table and kissed him. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek on her scalp.

"You know, I never imagined the first time I said I love you to be in a hospital cafeteria at three am."

"You imagined the first time you said I love you to me?"

"Shut up."

"Make me." She kissed him again, longer this time, only breaking the kiss when they needed to breathe. Linh looked at the coffees Wylie had gotten.

"Do you think that Della and Tiergan want their drinks now."

"Oh, right, those."

They were walking down the hallway on their way to the elevators when Linh stopped and sniffed at the air.

"Do you smell something?" she asked. He looked around, the hallway was clear of really anything. Save for a few medical carts and a hand washing station sunk into the wall. There was nothing that could have produced a smell but it was there a rotten smell that was almost sweet.

"It might be coming from over there," Linh said stepping over an overturned mop and towards a door. The paint had faded quite a bit but Wylie could see the faint outlines of the words _Service Stairs_. "I think these lead to the seventh floor." The seventh floor of the Britshire Hospital had been closed down for years after the last psych patient died they had no more use for it and it was abandoned. He felt like he was in a horror movie, which should have scared the hibbie jibbies out of him but instead he was fueled with curiosity. The smell only got stronger as they went up the stairs, growing more and more unbearable.

"Quick question," Wylie asked. "Where's Tam?"

"I don't know, he might have mumbled something along the lines of going back to your house or something, not wanting to intrude. Why?

"Oh, just wondering." They were at the top of the stairs now.

Linh pushed open the door. A cloud of dust rose up from the floor, Linh and Wylie pulled out their phones and turned on the flashlights. The entire ward was covered in a thick layer of dust. There was only one disturbance, a set of footprints leading towards one of the rooms. The light sparkled off of something in the corner, a lockpick. Not just any lockpick it was bedazzled with pink and golden rhinestones. It was Biana's.

Wylie picked up the lockpick and turned it over in his hands. _Property of Biana Vacker_ was engraved by hand on one of the smooth sides. Linh looked over his shoulder and he put his hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. He turned to her and put a finger to his lips and mouthed the words _We have to be quiet. Just in case_. Linh nodded in understanding. They made their way over to the footprints, they lead to one of the more secluded rooms in the ward. Wylie opened the door.

The smell of rotting was so strong that Wylie had to cover his nose with his sleeve. Linh did the same beside him. Their flashlights scanned the room. There was so much dust that at first, they didn't notice it. But then their flashlights came to a stop on the bed and they both screamed.

It was Biana. Well, what was left of Biana. Her face was gaunt and waxy, and it had a yellowish tint to it, like old paper. She was holding her purse and beside the bed was her suitcase. She had been here since just after Keefe had died. That was almost two months ago. Linh and Wylie looked at each other. And ran for the exit.

They ran and ran until Wylie's head collided with something. He fell back on the floor. Tam was standing up, looking flustered and rubbing his head from where it had hit Wylie's jaw.

"Good I found you." he started, not seeming to notice the fact that Linh and Wylie were both covered in dust, coffee from when Wylie had dropped the cups and sporting twin faces of horror. "I was going home when I realized that they couldn't've known that Dex had been in the candy store. At least not when we were in there."

"Where are you going with this?" asked Linh.

"I'm saying that I thought that Dex had gone back to the candy store. And I was right. I went to his house and then Juline let me in thinking that I had been working on something with him, which is not important. On his desk was a note that he had written to himself. _Excalibrate236_ I thought that it was his password or something, until, when I was looking at his computer I saw something, Dex had gone back and placed a camera in the tunnels where you found me."

"But they would have captured him and killed him before he had a chance to start the program."

"Not if he was Dex, he obviously had a password on the computer and that was what the "Excalibrate" stuff was, but now we have a camera that they don't think is operational in their hideout."

"What does that mean?" asked Wylie.

"It means that we now know all the members of the Periculos."

 **(A:/N) Allison: I will be the first to admit that I know almost nothing about corpses. I quite frankly I don't want to know, Just imagine what a two-month-old dead body would look like if there were no anything to help decompose them.**

 **On another note, that was the last death for a while, or was it? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!**

 **Anyways, bye for now, Allison.**


	13. Chapter 13

_Eighteen months later_

Wylie looked out of the window of the car. The rolling hills of Britshire, England were rushing past him. Linh laughed, Tam was hanging his head out of the window and imitating a dog. His hair whipped him in the face and only caused Linh to laugh harder.

"I hate to be the voice of reason her guys but we have a mission," said Wylie.

"Right, the mission," said Linh.

"You do realize that if they found out, Tiergan and Della are going to kill us," stated Tam.

"They'll only catch us if we get caught," argued Linh. Who had become serious again and was sorting through their equipment for the night.

It had been almost a year and a half since the night when they had found the camera, the night Fitz had died, the night when Biana had been discovered. Since then the Periculos had moved underground, only a handful of attacks since then. School had been reinstated six months after and Wylie Linh and Tam were finishing their last year.

Dex and his program were the primary reason that the Periculos had gone underground. They had identified all the known members, the more surprising being Leto Forkle, Grady and Edaline Ruewen. Other people had been confirmed as members that Wylie had no trouble believing, Quan and Mai Song, Alden, Emery, Cadence, and Alina. The police had been making some efforts to capture them but he had his work cut out for him. So, Wylie, Linh, and Tam had decided to help him out. Against the wishes of their parents.

Wylie pulled into the parking complex at the end of the street. Linh and Tam got out of the car and started to gear up. Walkie-talkies attached to their belts, backpacks filled with the traps and cameras, and of course Throwing stars for Linh. She had gotten quite good at them in the past eighteen months and could probably take on anyone. They had all been practicing their martial arts and they had been getting quite good.

They got to the entrance of the candy store with no problems. The street was clear of people, after all, it was the middle of the night. Wylie opened the door, the bell jingled, but there was no one in the store. Linh raised her eyebrows in confusion. Surely they had to have posted someone to keep watch. They had police searching for them. Tam walked further into the store, flashlight shining over the glass countertops and old candy. His light shone on one corner where Gethen was smiling.

"Why hello there," he said. "Come to play?"

"Maybe they're here because they want to have their butts handed to them," said another voice from behind the counter. Wylie shone his light at them, it was Brant, beside him Ruy and Calla popped up from behind the counter. They walked out from the counter and stood next to Gethen.

Gethen picked up a broom from beside him.

"May the fight begin."

Gethen and Brant came at Wylie, he wished that he had taken something else other than the rope. They hadn't been expecting this many people. Maybe two, not four. Gethen brought the broom down a Wylie, he lunged and the broom struck the floor with a _bang_. Wylie landed a punch near Brant's shoulder, but it didn't seem to phase him. Gethen raised the broom again. This time it looked like he was going to for Wylie's legs. Wylie tried to grab the broom out of his hands but only succeeded in nudging it, knocking Gethen's swing to where Brant was standing. It his legs and knocked him to his back on the floor. All it took was a kick to his head to knock him out. Gethen didn't seem shocked that Brant was down. It was obvious that these people were not the best fighters, probably newer recruits. Wylie punched Gethen in the chest and he stumbled back, winded Wylie took this opportunity to grab the broom from his hands and hit him over the head with it. Gethen fell onto the floor, knocked out.

Ruy lunged at Linh. She kicked him in the stomach. He retaliated by kneeing her knee, or at least trying to, she caught his knee and twisted it back. He fell back on the floor and fell unconscious.

Tam and Calla were fighting just as hard, she was clawing at his face with her fingernails. He was trying to gain leverage but she was a better fighter than he was and it looked like she was going to win. She raised her foot to kick his head and was pulled back a few inches by a throwing star pinning her to the wall, right on Jensi's face. Brant rose on shaky legs, coming towards Wylie with increasingly fierce breaths.

"You are going to pay for that Endal," he snarled. Linh looked at him, she mouthed _You want me to star him?_

"Nah," he said, "I think I can handle him." Linh shrugged as if to say- your fight- and continued to help Tam. Wylie turned back to Brant. He was still trying to regain his footing, it was coming quickly much to the disappointment of Wylie. He punched Brant in the arm, but Brant dodged and landed a punch to his stomach. Wylie doubled over and used the opportunity to kick Brant behind his knees. Brant crumpled to the ground and Wylie grabbed behind him and found a broom. He struck Brant over the head with it and he fell down to the ground.

Wylie took in the scene in front of him, Linh and Tam were tying up Brant, Gethen, Ruy and, Calla. The candy store was trashed, the glass display cabinets and artfully arranged candy were all destroyed in the fight. Even the picture of Jensi on the wall had a big hole through his face. Tam had scratched on his face.

"So much for Della and Tiergan not noticing," he said when Linh was bandaging some of the more major scratches. Wylie picked up his phone and called the police, they couldn't take these guys in by themselves

"Hello, Britshire Police department? I've got some people here that you might like to pick up."

The police arrived a few minutes later. Wylie, Linh, and Tam had finished tying up the members of the Periculos. Gethen and Ruy had come to but the others were still out cold. Cassius walked into the store and took in the scene around him.

"Well then," he said, a look of shock on his face. "I'm impressed. Not just anyone could have taken on three members of the Periculos."

"It was nothing, sir. All for the good of Britshire."

"Good, then you'll understand why I have to do this." Cassius punched Wylie in the face. He grabbed Gethen, Ruy, Brant and, Calla and they took off into the night.

 **(A:/N) Allison: This is the third to last chapter in this fanfiction. Yay!**

 **Anyway, by for now**

 **-Allison**


End file.
